


Sight of the Sun

by orphan_account



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-28
Updated: 2013-03-28
Packaged: 2017-12-06 19:42:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/739387
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hope was never there to see Kelley wake up</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sight of the Sun

_For once there is nothing up my sleeve_   
_Just some scars from a life that used to trouble me_   
_I used to run at first sight of the sun_   
_Now I lay here waiting for you to wake up_

The first thing she feels when she wakes up is Kelley's hair tickling her nose. It's still dark out so she brushes it away and burrows deeper into Kelley's neck, waiting for sleep to claim her once more. The second time she wakes up, the only thing she sees is her pillow, but she can feel an arm slung low around her bare waist, fingers tickling her hip. She can feel slow and steady breath on her shoulder. She can feel the sheets and a second pair of legs entangled with hers. She knows if she turns her head to the side she'll see the person responsible for all of this.

She turns her head.

 

…

 

Hope doesn't open up easily. It's part of what defines her, she thinks. She's the angry, mean, goalkeeper who never smiles, and never lets anybody in. Kelley, on the other hand, is open, and affectionate, and can get along with anybody.

They're two very different people. Nothing about their friendship should work. Somehow, rooming together at the olympics meant something did. The night the team won gold, after the partying and champagne showers were all over, Kelley and Hope ended up in their shared room, both still giddy with excitement. The clock on the bedside table read 2:47am but the world was still going on outside, the noise of the city enough to keep them awake for a while longer. Besides, they were olympic champions and there was no way in hell they were going to sleep now.

They were both drunk beyond reason but Hope can still remember the glint in Kelley's eye, the one that told her there was nowhere else she'd rather be. They had talked until long after the rest of the hotel was silent, long after all of their teammates had fallen asleep. Kelley had told Hope the same stories she'd heard before, and Hope had smiled and laughed like it was the first time, because she had never felt more connected to Kelley than that night. Their beds had been pushed together the entire time they had been roomies, and they fell asleep that night side by side, hands barely brushing together between them, gold medals feeling lighter than ever on their chests.

Hope had woken at the first sign of dawn the next morning to run, but right before she left she pulled the comforter a little higher over Kelley.

 

…

 

She turns her head, and takes in all of Kelley. She's lying on her front, with one hand on the pillow and the other still resting on Hope's hip. The sheets have fallen low on them during the night and the first light of the day casts shadows over Kelley's naked body. Her freckles, in the dim light of early morning, are enhanced, and Hope turns to get a better look at them. Kelley stirs, a frown creasing her forehead, but Hope stays silent and soon enough it's gone, replaced with the peaceful elegance of a still-deep sleep.

 

…

 

The unlikely friendship was formed long before the olympics, but London was what really helped it blossom. They stopped being friends who just stood next to each other at practice occasionally and started being friends who hung out together and ate dinner together and visited each other during time off. Kelley had picked up chinese food and invited Hope round the night after her divorce with Jerramy was finalised. Hope had brought the good wine, the stuff she had been saving for a special occasion, and between the pair of them they finished it before they finished eating.

Hope was ready to leave by midnight, but as she hugged Kelley goodbye her mouth had lingered a little too long on Hope's cheek, and the alcohol just screamed 'fuck it' as Hope crashed their lips together.

They didn't have time for pleasantries, no time to waste getting to know their bodies, taking it slow. Instead they had jumped straight in the deep end, and it had only taken a couple of seconds, hands following the lines of her abs, the curve of her breast, Hope's fingers dipping beneath the waistband of Kelley's sweatpants, to ruin their friendship forever. Kelley didn't turn the light off until they were finished.

The next morning, as the first signs of sunlight lit up the room, Hope had untangled herself from Kelley, grabbed her clothes and bolted, long before Kelley could wake. She had run a mile before she let her brain take over again, and not long after that she'd found herself back in Kelley's kitchen. Kelley had greeted her with a grin and a nod, her hair still tousled from sleep. They didn't talk about the night before.

 

…

 

Kelley sleeps in a lot longer than Hope does. Hope rises with the sun, Kelley could sleep until noon if she wanted to. That's fortunate, Hope thinks, because it means she gets to see her like this, at her most vulnerable. Her mouth is hanging open, just a little, and the sun's brighter in the room now. Bright enough that it accentuates the dimples at the bottom of Kelley's back, and Hope's chest constricts a little, because she's the only one who gets to see this. Kelley's like a hyperactive little squirrel on the field and off the field, and that's the side of her the whole team sees. Quiet, calm, reserved Kelley, the one who cares too much and gets hurt because of it, that's a side that only Hope gets to see. It's the side of Kelley that only comes out behind closed doors to certain people, and Hope's honoured and privileged to be that person.

 

…

 

After the first time, Hope never really left in the mornings after. She ran at first sight of the sun, but she always came back not long after Kelley woke up. At their first training camp after the olympics, Hope had a single room. Kelley was rooming with Lauren. Hope had expected a lonely night, like so many others without Kelley, where she would fall asleep alone and wake up the same way. She hadn't expected a knock to come as the bedside clock flashed 1:00am. She definitely hadn't expected Kelley to force her into the room and press her against the wall as she kissed her with such force Hope's legs began to fail her. It was all she could do to push the door shut and stumble across to the bed. Until now they had kept it strictly unemotional. No strings attached, friends with benefits. Hope had full intended on keeping it that way until Kelley's thighs are on either side of her hips and her hands are sliding down Hope's sides and she would still swear she heard Kelley mumble something about not being able to sleep without her.

It was too much, and that combined with the way the dim lighting of the hotel room illuminated only the best parts of Kelley's body, was the reason a whispered, “I love you,” slipped through her lips as she came undone.

Kelley didn't acknowledge it, but Hope knew she heard, from the way her eyes softened a little and, much later, when she had pressed a kiss to Hope's bare back when she thought Hope was asleep.

It wasn't enough, though, because when morning came Kelley woke before Hope, and was gone from her room. The only consolation was a hastily scribbled note on the pillow.

_Sorry, needed to be back before Cheney woke up._ _See you at practice!_

Hope had crumpled the piece of paper in her hand and pressed her palms to her eyes to fight back the burn of tears before they spilled over.

 

…

 

It's more than just satisfying to to see Kelley like this. It feels like a reward. Months and months of hard labour, sorting through everything that held her back, that made her not want to be there when Kelley woke up in the mornings. Kelley's eyebrow twitches, and her forehead crinkles once again, and Hope can't stop herself from smoothing her thumb across the lines until Kelley's face relaxes again. Her hand pushes back the strands of stray hair on Kelley's face, and comes to rest on her cheek, but she doesn't stir again, not even as Hope whispers, “God, you're so beautiful.” It feels like it's been years since they've left this bed, but Hope thinks she would wait a thousand more years if she could keep looking at Kelley like this.

 

…

 

The friends with benefits act ended shortly before the Algarve, when Kelley had let a late night, “I love you,” slip into the quiet of Hope's bedroom, seeming to think Hope couldn't hear her.

She had been wrong though, because Hope had turned Kelley around in their embrace and captured her lips in a long kiss, followed by a breathy, “I love you so fucking much.”

Kelley always had a way with kids, but it became most apparent to Hope at Reece's birthday party. She had donned a spongebob hat and sang the theme song proudly and danced around with Reece long after everybody else had. She had picked the child up and swung her around before settling her on her hip and looking across the room at Hope. She must have said something to Reece, because Reece had started waving madly, and Kelley's eyes crinkled further at Hope's casual wave back. She might have seemed disinterested to some, but really all she'd been able to think was how good Kelley looked with a child. It had warmed her heart and made her equally unsettled, because six months ago she wouldn't have been allowed to want to see Kelley with their child. She was never supposed to think about starting a family with her. Yet there she was, thinking about waking up to Kelley, and their son or daughter, and having a child call them both _mom_ , and the urge to cry came over her without warning, so quickly that she had to excuse herself to the bathroom.

That night she had made love to Kelley, deliberately and slowly, making sure to trace every inch of her skin with her hands. The city was quiet outside and they were the only people in the world.

Hope still ran the next morning though, but she knew Kelley knew she would come back.

 

…

 

Hope doesn't feel ready to face the world without an early morning run, but this time she doesn't think she's able to leave the sight in front of her. It's been almost a year since the night of the gold medal, the night that almost certainly changed everything, but this is the first time Hope's stayed in bed long enough to see Kelley when she wakes up. It's worth the wait though, when Kelley looks at her through barely-awake eyes like she's made of pure gold. It's all Hope wants in life, to have Kelley look at her like this every day, and she's got it.

Kelley leans up and kisses her, and Hope never wants to run again.

**Author's Note:**

> Ok so I know Hope wasn't at the Algarve and therefore not at Reece's party but we just pretend ok?


End file.
